Dispute over Nafau congress sparks legal battle between leadership, members

The Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) is embroiled in a contentious dispute over the organisation of an upcoming elective congress scheduled for today at the National Youth Services campus at Rietfontein.

Moses Ikanga of M Ikanga & Associates Inc, the legal representative for dissatisfied union members, recently sent a letter to Nafau national leadership accusing them of unlawful actions and violating the union’s constitution.

The instruction to the lawyers was spearheaded by the former member of the Nafau national executive committee, Reinhold Shipwikineni, after it was established that the general secretary, Jacob Penda, has been instructing branches not to discuss the congress at any of their meetings.

He confirmed the authenticity of the letter.

Nafau last held an elective congress in 2016, rendering the current leadership illegitimate after their term expired in 2020.

Last month, The Namibian published an article in which the branches condemned the decision by the Nafau leadership to elect themselves for another term and barring elections from taking place at the congress.

Ikanga expressed concern regarding the planned congress, which is being organised by Nafau’s central executive committee.
According to Ikanga, the congress is not compliant with the Nafau constitution and the leadership lack the authority to call such a gathering.

“Your call for a national congress is unlawful and unconstitutional, because the mooted purported congress is not competently convened. You are in any event not competent to convene a congress and consequently, any business transacted at the congress would be unlawful, of no consequence and unconstitutional,” said Ikanga.

Acting on his clients’ instructions, Ikanga demanded that the Nafau national leadership immediately cease using the union’s name, emblem and letterhead for congress activities.

The Nafau leadership was given until Monday to comply and warned that failure to meet this demand will lead to legal action, including seeking an urgent interdict from the High Court to restrain them from hosting the congress.

Meanwhile, the Nafau leadership has enlisted the services of lawyer Karel Gaeb of Sisa Namandje & Co Inc.
Gaeb refutes the Nafau members’ claims.

According to him, the union leadership’s actions are aligned with its constitutional and legal duties and they deny any violation of constitutional provisions.

He stated their readiness to defend the union leaders’ position in any legal proceedings initiated by the dissatisfied members.

In the meantime, Nafau Khomas regional coordinator Selma Kurangera has written to the Katutura Police Station commander requesting that law enforcement officers be deployed to the departure point in Windhoek for members going to the congress.
She, however, did not elaborate on potential threats that may be present.

The delegates were departing from Hakahana Service Station on 9 November.

“We kindly request that your department deploy officers to monitor the departure point in order to prevent any potential disturbance of security threats,” she said.

Both Kurangera and Penda did not answer their phones or respond to messages sent to them via WhatsApp.

Namibian Police head of operations in the Khomas region, deputy commissioner Gerald Klazen confirmed that police officers would be deployed to the departure point.

Members who spoke to The Namibian on condition of anonymity for fear of intimidation from the leadership, said most of them have asked employers not to release full-time shop stewards to attend the congress.

They also indicated that neither they, nor their branches were invited to attend the congress.

Labour expert Herbert Jauch emphasised the importance of following constitutional provisions in union matters and preserving workers’ democracy.

Jauch noted that the dispute within Nafau appears to be more about manoeuvring for personal interests than the intended purpose of the congress.

“It’s like a continuation of manoeuvring, driven by personal interests to retain leadership positions, instead of using the congress for members to assess the union’s progress, challenges and the most suitable leaders,” he said.